Trouble lights with shrouds are well-known and are utilized for various types of service work. These lights commonly have a shroud for shade to one side of the lamp itself and thereby shield against having the lamp shine directly into the eyes of the user. However, in order to look directly at the workpiece, the user must move the trouble lamp to one side so that the line of sight is direct between the eye and the workpiece. This of course results in offsetting the light to where it is less effective in illuminating the workpiece.
The present invention improves upon trouble lights as known in the prior in that the present invention provides for a shroud or shade which has a see-through opening therein and which therefore permits the user to place the trouble light and his line of vision on the one direct line between his eye and the workpiece. In that arrangement, the user can clearly see the workpiece and do detailed or delicate work on the workpiece because the user's view of the workpiece is improved by virtue of having the trouble light in line with the line of vision, rather than being positioned to one side in order to permit a view of the workpiece.
In accomplishing this objective, the present invention provides for an opening in the shroud or shade of the trouble light and with the opening being positioned so that the lamp included in the trouble light does not directly shine into the user's eyes and thereby impede clear vision. That is, the opening in the shroud is offset relative to the lamp in the trouble light so that the lamp cannot shine through the opening into the user's eyes when the user has positioned the trouble light directly along the line of sight from the user's eyes and to the workpiece.
Additionally, the trouble light of this invention provides for the inclusion of a magnifying lens which enhances the user's vision, and the lens is removably positioned in the opening on the shroud of this trouble light. Still further, there can be a lens, and it can be in addition to the first-mentioned lens, positioned in the mesh-type guard at the front of the trouble light and of course with that lens being in the line of sight with the first-mentioned lens, all to further enhance the user's vision of the workpiece.
Still further, the present invention provides for the ready and easy displacement of the lens on the shroud, simply by sliding the lens to an out-of-the way location on the shroud, and the user can then simply look through the opening which is free of the lens. Additionally, the present invention has a cover or closure which is movably mounted on the shroud and can be positioned over the opening when it is desired to preclude viewing through the opening, and the cover can be readily and easily moved away from the opening so that viewing through the opening, with or without the lens, can be accomplished. U.S. prior art patents U.S. Pat. Nos. 728,357 and 1,717,754 and 1,814,540 all show lights having an attachment of a lens on the light housing or the like, for enhancing vision of the workpiece when it is viewed through the lens. However, these prior art disclosures do not relate to an arrangement of a trouble light with a shroud having an opening offset from the location of the lamp so that the user can look through the opening without looking directly at the lamp, and the arrangement can be such that the opening does not have a lens therein, at the option of the user's arrangement thereof. Those patent disclosures do not reveal a trouble light where the lens can be moved into and out of the opening in the light shroud and with the lens being stored on the shroud in the inoperative position. Also, the lens mounting in those patents is not incorporated in the shroud itself, as it is in the present invention.
Another prior art disclosure is U.S. Pat. No. 4,141,062, but that patent does not disclose the see-through opening in the shroud and in a line offset from the lamp itself. All of the aforementioned patents are U.S. patents and they do not disclose the trouble light with a hemispherically-shaped shroud to one side of the lamp and with the end portion of the shroud having a see-through opening and with a lens which can be positioned into the opening or moved on the shroud to an inoperative position away from the opening and also the present invention has a provision for a cover which can be positioned over the opening and thereby have the shroud serve as the conventional and solid shade or shroud to preclude all light passage through the shroud.